Two dead after car hits pole in Melbourne’s outer east

A man is under police guard in hospital, after his car hit a pole in Melbourne’s outer east on Saturday night, killing two passengers.

The crash occurred on Oaklands Avenue in Ferntree Gully just before 6pm, and the two passengers died at the scene. The bodies are yet to be formally identified.

Two people died in a single car crash in Ferntree Gully, after a series of unrelated accidents on the Monash Freeway earlier in the day.

The circumstances surrounding the crash are yet to be established and the investigation remains ongoing, police said, urging witnesses and those with footage to contact them via Crime Stoppers.

There have now been 16 lives lost on Victoria’s roads since the beginning of 2026.

It follows a turbulent day on Melbourne’s roads.

Around 10am, an allegedly stolen Mazda hit a Mercedes on the Monash Freeway at Endeavour Hills, leaving the female driver of the Mercedes in hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Up to eight teenage boys fled the stolen car, with one of them – a 15-year-old – arrested by police after a citizens arrest. That teen is being interviewed by police, while the other seven remain on the run after fleeing into nearby bushland.

As police responded to that crash, they noticed a Nissan in the Monash Freeway’s emergency lane. The car sped off as they attempted to intercept it, eventually colliding with six cars before the driver and passenger got out and fled on foot.